A former collaborator of the disgraced South Korean scientist, Dr Hwang Woo-Suk, claimed today to have succeeded in cloning wolves.

The two wolves, named Snuwolf and Snuwolffy, were born October 18 and 26 2005, said Dr Lee Byeong-Chun, a veterinary professor at Seoul National University.

DNA tests showed the two wolves - an endangered species - are clones, the university's office of research affairs said, adding the results would be published in the journal Cloning and Stem Cells.

The university did not immediately provide any independent verification of the DNA tests.

Prof Lee's team succeeded in cloning a female dog, an Afghan hound named Bona, last year after creating the world's first cloned dog in 2005.

Dr Lee was a key member of Dr Hwang's research team, whose purported breakthroughs in creating human stem cells through cloning were found to be fake. But the team's success in cloning the world's first dog, Snuppy, was confirmed.

Prof Lee, who had been suspended from his university for three months over the stem cell scandal, was the main scientist in the dog cloning.

He has been on trial, along with Dr Hwang and other former team members, on charges of misappropriating research funds.